The aeration system of the passenger cabin of a motor vehicle generally emerges in at least one opening provided in the dashboard of the vehicle. An air outlet device closes said opening and makes it possible to control the direction of the flow of air leaving the aeration system.
Such an air outlet device for example comprises a first set of substantially horizontal blades and a second set of substantially vertical blades, the sets being rotatably mounted and extending in front of one another through the air outlet opening. Rotating the horizontal blades makes it possible to orient the flow of air upward or downward, and rotating the vertical blades makes it possible to rotate the flow of air to the right or to the left. In order to rotate the blades, an actuator is provided, for example in the form of a tongue, connected to the first and second sets of blades and rotatably secured to a horizontal blade and translatable thereon. In this way, rotating the actuator causes the rotation of the horizontal blades, while translating the actuator on the horizontal blade causes the rotation of the vertical blades.
In these devices, it is preferable for the user to feel a click when the actuator reaches an extreme position or an intermediate position when it is translated on the vertical blade. In fact, since the vertical blades are hidden by the horizontal blades, it is difficult for the user to know what position they are in. Thus, the click position allows the user to have an idea of the position of the vertical blades. To produce that click, it is for example proposed to provide a spring leaf extending from one edge of the first blade or the tongue, in the same plane as the latter parts, and a recess provided in the tongue or in the first blade, the recess also extending in the same plane as those parts. In this way, when the tongue is translated along the blade and the spring leaf is located across from the recess, the spring leaf relaxes in the recess, causing the click. Such a device is for example described in documents DE-20 2004 006 461 or DE-20 2006 009 352.
For tongues having a long translational travel on the blade, a friction element is generally provided applying a certain friction on the blade to oppose a certain resistance to translation. This element extends inside the body of the tongue between that body and the blade in the same plane as the blade and the tongue so as to be invisible from the outside of the device.
However, adding this device can be impossible due to the presence of the spring leaf extending in the same plane as the tongue and the blade. Furthermore, if one nevertheless manages to install the friction element and the spring leaf, the forces exerted in the plane of the blade are too significant for the fastening means for fastening the tongue on the blade (fastening done by clips made from plastic, for example). The presence of the spring leaf also adds an additional part to the air outlet device, which involves more complicated manufacturing and additional production costs.